Dusk Born
The Dusk Born are a renegade chapter of Adeptus Astartes, who abandoned their duty for a power and pride only offered by the Dark Gods. Created during the 4th Founding, they were once known as the Dusk Crusaders - proud servants of the Emperor - who hailed from the lineage of the dutiful Rogal Dorn. Now they serve the Ruinous Powers, fully devoted to spreading their heretical faith throughout the area surrounding the Maelstrom. History Originally known as the Dusk Crusaders, the chapter that would become the Dusk Born were a proud and honored chapter, even gifted with a gene-sire the century before. This status would add to the shock of their betrayal, as their pride and lust for strength and power guiding them into the hands of the Dark Gods. Fall From Grace The Dusk Crusaders were once masters at the art of the siege, proudly displaying the inherited skill of their progenitors, the Imperial Fists. But after a disastrous campaign against the Night Lords Traitor legion, the Dusk Crusaders displayed an unquenchable anger, becoming more prone to outbursts and more introvertive. They also displayed a more brutal style of combat, massacring their foes even after they had been broken. When confronted, they refused to acknowledge the darkness surrounding them, giving off an arrogant and prideful demeanor. This all came to a head when they intervened in an Ork assault on a now-dead world, where, after slaughtering the Orks in a brutal close-quarters war, they massacred the civilian population. This was unforgivable in the eyes of the Imperium, and the Inquisition was dispatched to deal with the chapter. Betrayal Knowing the agents of the Emperor would come for them, the chapter gathered in their home system to fight their new foe. What they were unprepared for was the inclusion of the Imperial Fists, who had heard of their son's treachery and departed with the Inquisition to stamp out the traitors. Despite putting up a strong defense, the Dusk Crusaders lost their defenses one-by-one, until, as dusk came over their Fortress-Monastery, the Inquisition fleets gathered to burn the renegade chapter's home. The Dusk Crusaders knew they were defeated, and the last of the renegades evacuated the fortress-Monastery into the remains of the fleet and left the system, though they lost even more as they retreated. They fled to the sanctuary within the hellish realm of the infamous warp rift known as the Maelstrom, and were declared Excommunicate Traitoris and forgotten. Return After 30 decades of absence, the Dusk Crusaders were forgotten by all except those who were present for their fall, and they were struck from all records, their glories forgotten. This would change as they struck out into Materium once more, now calling themselves the Dusk Born in remembrance of their old title and the dusk which heralded their fall. They first attacked the Hive World of Holghast Solar, and broadcast to the rest of the system, describing the hell the citizens of the hives were experiencing at that moment, and promising they would receive the same fate. They made good on that promise, and soon the entire system was ablaze and overcome by a madness only known to the servants of Chaos. By the time the Astra Militarum arrived, the system was corrupted, and they not only faced the terror strategies of the corrupted Dusk Born, but an overwhelming and fanatical army of cultists. The overwhelming bloodshed and violence that followed was used as an offering to the Dark Gods, and the leader of the Dusk Born, the Chaos Lord Kavros the Raider was rewarded with Princehood. Reunited With Their Sons After the Cicatrix Maledictum emerged and cut the galaxy in half, the Dusk Born stepped up their raids, leaving entire systems in cult-infested ruins. Along the way they encountered another Warband, one they soon identified as heretical elements of their loyalist successors, calling themselves the Forsaken Hammers. They watched these servants of Chaos in their war against their loyalist brethren, and saw them crumble and retreat at the coming of the Indomitus Crusade. Taking an interest in them, perhaps to use them as a tool for their own schemes, the Dusk Born followed their sons to the world of Gallileus, and introduced themselves, explaining their reasons for coming. They allied themselves with the Forsaken Hammers, seeking to spread ruin and corruption to the rest of their loyalist successors, turning them into another pawn of their Great Masters. They held out against the assault of the Hammer Guard, their forces cutting down many of those they once called successor before their lines broke, and they followed the Forsaken Hammers to their homeworld of Diabuloso. Fractured One the homeworld of the Forsaken Hammers, the Dusk Born gathered, their Lord Estoden met with the newly risen Lord of the Forsaken, Arabhor the Reborn. In a meeting that lasted hours, with none allowed to listen, the two servants of the Dark Gods struck a deal. The Forsaken would become part of the Dusk Born's number, and the two warbands would fight as one. Naturally, there were some who opposed this. Seeing the Forsaken Hammers as weak and seeing this deal as evidence of the ineptitude of Lord Estoden, Aspiring Champion Kiraxus Warpscourge gathered a third of the Dusk Born to his cause and attacked the bastion of the Forsaken, hoping to end them and take command of the Dusk Born for himself. Seeing this as treachery, the remaining two thirds of the warband joined their Chaos Lord and went to war. During this fight, Estoden was slain, though it is not certain who struck the final blow. Using the gap of power, the lord of the Forsaken took his place, and finally repelled Kiraxus and his followers. With the two thirds who had followed Estoden becoming Forsaken Hammers, Kiraxus had gotten his title, but was forced to hide. Now, he and his Dusk Born raid the stars, desperate for resources in their new war. Homeworld The former homeworld of the Dusk Born, the feral world of Nominus, was burned by the Inquisition in the fall of the Dusk Crusaders and the remaining citizens, innocent of the crimes committed by the Chapter who inhabited the same world, were burned alive while the renegades watched as they fled. Now, the Dusk Born maintain a fleet in the warp storm known as the Maelstrom, scavenging whatever ships they can find to grow their armada. The flagship of this fleet is the fearsome battle barge known now as the Axe of Corruption, which holds the command elements of the chapter, as well as those considered by the current Chaos Lord to be the most elite of the Dusk Born. In it’s vile halls, corrupted chaplains preach the glory of the Ruinous Powers, while devious sorcerers conduct vile rituals and the cruel Warpsmiths maintain the armory of corrupted and horrifying weaponry. Gene-seed and Demeanor The Dusk Born all possess a version of the Imperial Fist’s gene-seed, one which has been mutated and corrupted beyond reason. The “gifts” granted to them by the Dark Gods only amplify these mutations, giving the Dusk Borns wings made of flesh and claws created with bone and iron, which some use as tools and weapons on their own. The wings are even seen as a representation of rank, as the oldest and most corrupted of them have the largest wings. The mutations don’t end there, as their voices have become daemonic, similar to the Bloodletters of Khorne. Before renouncing their ties to the Imperium, the Dusk Crusaders were prideful and zealous, and utterly brutal in combat. Now, they are vile and violent warriors, utterly devoted to pleasing the Dark Gods, for their faith and for their own selfish ambitions. They relish every chance to kill the servants of the Corpse God, every kill from citizen to Astartes bringing satisfaction. They love nothing more than to pillage and spread the corruption of Chaos. Recruitment Without the resources once available to them as servants of the Imperium, the Dusk Born pillage worlds for resources and manpower, using those they capture as slaves or recruits, brutally implanting their gene-seed in those that seem promising, and many recruits die in the process. Those that do are now one in the most vile group of beings in the galaxy, another Heretic Astartes ready to serve in the Eternal War. Organization The Dusk Born's organisation is abnormally orderly, representing something similar to the chapter they once were, except now consisting of the corrupted forces of Chaos. The warband consists of a varying number of "Raid parties" each led by an aspiring champion who has earned the Chaos Lord's favor. Within each raid party is a number of specialized squads who have devoted themselves to one of the Ruinous Powers, while the majority of the party is standard chaos space marine squads, equipped with a number of stolen wargear. Currently, the Dusk Born are led by Estoden the Unyielding, a violent and brutal warrior who tears apart his foes with his chainaxe and combi-bolter. Favored Tactics The different Raid Parties each have their own preferences in tactics, but usually take to the field with masses of cultists and specialists, but each member of the Dusk Born possesses an inherent affection for terror, and the Raid Parties often use terror in their destructive assaults, only making the masses of cultists and specialists that act as the leading edge of the assault all the more effective. Some even specialize in terror, breaking an enemy’s will before slaughtering them in surprise assaults from what seems like any corner. Now, with two thirds of their warband gone, the Dusk Born fight as one force, descending upon worlds and spreading terror, turning the night into hell and becoming ghosts in the day, turning those driven mad into their own form of Dusk Born, for the citizens of those worlds who fall victim to the Dusk Born know that the coming of dusk is the coming of nightmares, driven mad and reborn into servants of the Dark Gods. In battle, the Dusk Born will deploy masses of cultists, their Astartes striking out at random points into their foe into the terror spread among their ranks crumbles all sense of order and breaks their will. Devotion As a group, the Dusk Born worship and do the bidding of all four of the Ruinous Powers. Individually, however, many of the Dusk Born favor one of the Pantheon over the others, and seek to please them. The outcome of this is the presence of many specialized forces within the raid parties of the Dusk Born, and so the leaders within the warband must be powerful and cunning, so that they may keep their party together and keep their subordinates under their heel. Notable Dusk Born * '''Kavros the Raider - '''The last chapter master of the Dusk Crusaders and the first Chaos Lord of the Dusk Born, Kavros Delegarde, also known as Kavros the Raider, led his chapter in to the embrace of Chaos, and led the first raids of the warband from the front. His greatest deed, which led him to Princehood, was the conversion of an entire system to the worship of Chaos, and led these cultists against the Imperium when they tried to reclaim the system. The sacrifices caused by this bloody crusade appeased the gods of Chaos, and he ascended to Daemonhood, abandoning the warband. * '''Rorgar the Corruptor - '''One of the warband's Champions, Rorgar the Corrupter led his Raid Party through a system, pillaging the world's he conquered, and gained infamy in the Imperium and the envious respect of his fellow chaos space marines. He was eventually killed in a glorious attack on a Forge World, and is celebrated throughout the warband. * '''Estoden the Unrelenting - '''The longest-serving Lord of the Dusk Born, Estoden the Unrelenting was a violent and brutal warrior, wearing the venerated and sought-after Terminator Armor, and wields a chainaxe and combi-bolter, tearing apart his foes and laughing amongst the slaughter. Surrounded by a retinue of Chaos Terminators, he charged into the fray, his chainaxe whirring and bolter howling. He had led the most successful raids in the warband's history, burning whole worlds in the name of the ever-demanding dark gods. After the bretrayal of Kiraxus Warscourge, he fell in combat with the traitor Dusk Born. * '''Kiraxus Warpscourge - '''The new Chaos Lord of the Dusk Born, Kiraxus Warpscourge is the leader of the rebel Dusk Born who refused to accept the Forsaken Hammers as worthy of joining the ranks of the Dusk Born, and now leads the remains of his warband both in service of his Dark Gods, and against the Forsake Hammers. Clad in warp-tainted power armor, styled like the stuff of nightmares, Kiraxus wields a power axe and lightning claw, and by the end of each night on a world they are dripping with blood and gore. * '''Aradiel the Espionist - '''A rather strange individual, Aradiel was once a chaplain of the Dusk Crusaders, and before that a scout sergeant, notable for his expertise at stealth combat. After the chapter's fall to Chaos, Aradiel left his brothers, going to spread the word of Chaos to other worlds in the Imperium. He soon gained an affinity for disguises, and eventually he gained a reputation for disguising as even a loyalist Astartes, although only to spread the word of Chaos, and would soon abandon his disguise. He was last seen disguised as a dark apostle of the Word Bearers, early in the 41st Millennium. Gallery Dusk Crusaders_Armorial.png|Pict-file of a Dusk Crusaders armorial with Chapter iconography (Pre-heresy appearance). Dusk Crusaders_Astartes.png|Pict-file of a Dusk Crusaders Tactical Marine (Pre-heresy appearance). Category:Chaos Category:Chaos Space Marines Category:Fleet-Based Chapters Category:Renegade Chapters Category:4th Founding Category:Unknown Geneseed Category:Chaos Undivided